Tag: Political Future

Does The US Have A Future?

NOTE:  Today I start the next round of poking, prodding, scanning, and chemo…it all begins this morning at 7 am so this may be the only post I do today….thanx for understanding.     chuq

That is the big philosophical question as we prepare to celebrate our 250th year.

The research says things are not looking good for the future….at least for right now….

Over a third of Americans do not believe their country is going to exist 250 years from now as the U.S. nears its 250th anniversary, according to a poll released Tuesday.

In the new Reuters/Ipsos poll, 38 percent of respondents said the U.S. is not going to be a single country in two-and-a-half centuries, while 62 percent thought it will last. When broken down by party, 26 percent of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats said the U.S. is not going to be a whole country in 250 years.

The poll comes amid heightened political tensions in the U.S., with multiple instances of political violence in the last few years and increasingly heated rhetoric.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found that 30 percent of respondents said the U.S. is the world’s best country, a decrease from 38 percent who thought so when asked in November 2017. In the more recent survey, 48 percent said the country is among many excellent countries, 13 percent said the U.S. isn’t great in any way and 8 percent did not answer the question or were unsure.

In other recent polling, Americans have also expressed little faith in their country’s leadership and governmental structure.

An early June poll from Quinnipiac University found more than half of Americans saying that the system of democracy was not working in their country. President Trump, a polarizing figure himself, was sitting at a 40.30 percent approval rating in a polling average from Decision Desk HQ on Tuesday morning, with his disapproval rating at 56.8 percent.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll took place from June 12-15, featuring 1,537 U.S. adults and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

(thehill.com)

This can be looked at in two ways….will the country survive or will the political system survive?

I know most people are concerned with the survival of our country but that aside what do you think with happen in the near future?

Personally I think Donny is killing the country as well as the system….so if the US is to recover then we may need another 250 years to accomplish it for Donny has done as much damage as possible to this country and its system.

Why would I say such a thing?

There are so many indications that point to the end of the American experiment….

Minoritarian rule of the winner-take-all (WTA) electoral college: Because 48 states allocate all electoral votes to the statewide winner, a candidate can secure the presidency while losing the popular vote. This enables the election of administrations that prioritize corporate deregulation and tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, even when the broader electorate demands reform.

Electoral manipulation: Once institutions are in place, the mechanisms of voting can be altered to ensure the ruling minority maintains an electoral advantage.

Partisan gerrymandering: Lawmakers manipulate district boundaries to pack opposition voters into a few districts or spread them out thinly, allowing the minority party to retain a governing majority of seats despite winning fewer total votes statewide.

Voter suppression: Stricter voting regulations—such as rigid voter ID requirements, purges of voter rolls, and the reduction of early voting—disproportionately restrict access for minority communities and lower-income voters.

Institutional counter-majoritarianism: certain governing structures are explicitly designed to over-represent specific geographic or demographic groups at the expense of population equality.

Malapportionment of legislatures: In systems like the U.S. Senate, low-population rural states receive the same representation as highly populated urban centers. This allows a minority of the population to block national legislation.

Legislative obstruction: Minority groups utilize built-in procedural hurdles within deliberative bodies to stop majority action.

The Filibuster: In legislative chambers, this rule requires supermajorities (e.g., 60 out of 100 votes) to pass routine legislation or end debate. This allows a minority of legislators to veto the entire legislative agenda.

Judicial entrenchment: When the ruling minority controls the executive and legislative branches, they can appoint lifetime judges who share their ideological preferences.

Counter-Majoritarian Courts: Appointed judges can use the power of judicial review to overturn laws passed by the majority, strike down civil rights protections, and further enable restrictive voting and campaign finance laws.

Money in politics and concentrated wealth allows well-funded, organized interest groups to exert outsized influence over the political process compared to the general populace.

Dark Money: Unregulated or anonymous campaign contributions allow a wealthy few to fund sympathetic candidates, lobby for specific policies, and run mass media campaigns that shift the political agenda.

Now look ahead….do you see anyone on the political horizon that will change these defects?

I do not and that is why I say this American experiment is in real trouble.

The nation is in real trouble and absolutely no one on the horizon that can save it.

Go ahead let the opinions fly.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Donald Dead(Politically)?

That is a metaphoric question…..so do not start some silly bullshit…..try reading before you jump to conclusions….just a suggestion.

I need to state for the record that I am in NO way a supporter of this person and this is NOT an endorsement……..

Do not start to count him out….there is much not known, Horatio.

Last week there surfaced a tape with Mr. Trump being a macho dick….and the media went batcrap crazy…..and the polls are showing he is losing support (regardless what the toads in his campaign want you to believe)……but is he dead for the election(politically)?

But first…..I have been getting a bit of grief because I am leaning toward Stein in this election….and they all drag out the old 2000 example….if I vote for a third party I will be giving the White House to Trump…..a little too simplistic for my thoughts…..the Clinton people are already looking for a scapegoat in case they somehow fuck up and lose the election…..not that the Trump camp is not doing the same thing……..looking for those scapegoats.

I think the hardcore Dems need to worry about something else….a little closer to home…..lazy voters!

A Reuters analysis suggests an odd problem for Hillary Clinton: overconfidence among her supporters may lead them to skip Election Day altogether. With Donald Trump dealing with GOP defections and slipping poll numbers in the wake of his hot mic scandal, the prospect of depressed Democratic turnout is a real one, writes James Oliphant. He phrases the matter this way: “Opinion polls show that many voters are backing Clinton primarily to stop Trump, the Republican nominee, from getting into the White House. If they believe he has no hope of winning, then what would their motivation be to turn up at the polls?”

The issue could be a problem for Democrats in crucial swing states, and it could haunt Clinton even if she wins the election—a small margin of victory would make her ability to govern that much harder, writes Oliphant. A post at conservative PJ Media sees “a kernel of validity” in the theory, but says it highlights a much bigger problem for Clinton: “She’s not inspiring even Democrats. The media is focusing on dissension within the GOP ranks and electorate, but they completely ignore the fact that the other side isn’t exactly singing in the streets over its nominee.”

That is right….overconfident Dem voters may not vote…….but I will catch Hell from the mindless for my vote……….

Me?  I am still thinking Green.

Who Knew A Movie Could Be Prophetic?

It is the weekend and I will take the rest of the day to kick back and enjoy the simpler things in life……

We all have that one movie that speaks to us…..Steel Magnolias or Day After Tomorrow…..those sort of movies……mine is a bit different….mine is about a disturbing trend in our politics….

I have commented many times about the stupidity that this country is experiencing and has been experiencing for a couple of decades now…….I have used the movie, “Idiocracy” as an example of what could happen if this trend continues……

Well all my efforts have not been in vain……the creator of the movie has weighed in on this trend also……

Idiocracy, 2016, Donald Trump, Election, Documentary

The man behind the 2006 cult sci-fi film “Idiocracy” is lamenting that his fictional movie appears to have become reality.

“I never expected #idiocracy to become a documentary,” tweeted screenwriter Etan Cohen in an apparent jab at the 2016 presidential race.

Together with “Beavis & Butt-head” creator Mike Judge, Cohen co-wrote the time-travel comedy. The plot revolves around the misadventures of a man who wakes up in a futuristic America only to discover that everyone around him, including lawmakers and government officials, is an idiot.

“I thought the worst thing that would come true was everyone wearing Crocs,” Cohen told his Twitter followers.

“Idiocracy” star Terry Crews, famous for his role as President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, also used the satirical film to take a shot at the surreal election cycle.

“All y’all need to stop tripping,” Crews tweeted in character. “Chill the F out, ‘Merica.”

(The Hill)

May I suggest that you, my readers, need to see this film……a look into the future of this country…..

Who knew a work of cinematic fiction could be so damn prophetic?

A New Path?

As Yogi Berra once said, “when you come to a fork in the road, take it” and that best describes the “new” direction that the GOP will be pursuing.

From an article written by Perry Bacon, Jr for the WaPo:

RNC chairman Steele has outdone himself this time.   Steele, speaking to the 168 members of the Republican National Committee, continued his fiery rhetoric in the last few weeks against the president, who he said “could not be more partisan.” He accused Obama of “yielding his legislative agenda almost entirely to radicals like Nancy Pelosi” and called Obama’s first 100 days a “reign of error.”

“We’ve seen strategists writing memos and doing briefings urging that Republicans avoid confronting the president,” he said in a speech at a convention center in Oxon Hill. “Steer clear of frontal assaults on his administration. They suggest we should go after Nancy Pelosi, whom nobody likes, or Harry Reid, who nobody knows”

“The era of apologizing for Republican mistakes of the past is now officially over,” Steele says. “It is done, we have turned the page, we have turned the corner. No more looking in the review mirror.”

So the plan is to start attacking the prez on all fronts.  Is that a wise choice?  The prez has a 70% approval rating and the people may not be receptive to such attacks.  I know the party is struggling to find its footing, but is this a wise choice?  Why not formulate some new ideas on the economy and such to present to the people and let them, see that the GOP is truly a viable party?

And all out frontal assault is about as wise as just saying NO to everything.  Not sure that this decision was thought out completely before it was offered to the members of the RNC.  Or if the political fallout was taken into serious consideration.

Rising Tensions In The McCain Camp

Even as John McCain and Sarah Palin scramble to close the gap in the final days of the 2008 election, stirrings of a Palin insurgency are complicating the campaign’s already-tense internal dynamics.

Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them. Those Palin supporters, inside the campaign and out, said Palin blames her handlers for a botched rollout and a tarnished public image — even as others in McCain’s camp blame the pick of the relatively inexperienced Alaska governor, and her public performance, for McCain’s decline.

The emergence of a Palin faction comes as Republicans gird for a battle over the future of their party: Some see her as a charismatic, hawkish conservative leader with the potential, still unrealized, to cross over to attract moderate voters. Anger among Republicans who see Palin as a star and as a potential future leader has boiled over because, they say, they see other senior McCain aides preparing to blame her in the event he is defeated.

“These people are going to try and shred her after the campaign to divert blame from themselves,” a McCain insider said, referring to McCain’s chief strategist, Steve Schmidt, and to Nicolle Wallace, a former Bush aide who has taken a lead role in Palin’s campaign. Palin’s partisans blame Wallace, in particular, for Palin’s avoiding of the media for days and then giving a high-stakes interview to CBS News’ Katie Couric, the sometimes painful content of which the campaign allowed to be parceled out over a week.

Palin has in fact performed fairly well in the moments thought to be key for a vice presidential nominee: She made a good impression in her surprise rollout in Ohio and her speech to the Republican National Convention went better than the campaign could have imagined. She turned in an adequate performance at a debate against the Democratic Party’s foremost debater.

But other elements of her image-making went catastrophically awry. Her dodging of the press and her nervous reliance on tight scripts in her first interview, with ABC News, became a national joke — driven home to devastating effect by “Saturday Night Live” comic Tina Fey. The Couric interview — her only unstaged appearance for a week — was “water torture,” as one internal ally put it.